Random Acts of Kindness
by iloveromance
Summary: While accompanying Daphne to the food bank to drop off some donations, Niles begins to worry that his life will never be the same as he recovers from his heart surgery and even more so he worries that he'll never be able to be the husband he wants to be. Sequel to "The Selfless Angel". Set after "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Dedicated to Kristen for her love, support and friendship**

Aware of her husband's slow steady breathing, Daphne buried her head against his shoulder and kissed him, gently running her fingers down the pink scar that ran down his chest. He awoke at once, returning the gesture, thus deepening the kiss.

"Good morning my sweet."

Daphne laughed and held him closer. "Niles, it's hardly morning. In fact, it's the middle of the afternoon."

"So it is..." He replied mischievously. "And I think we should spend the rest of the day in bed."

As he moved to kiss her once more, she pulled away, causing him a moment's confusion. "Is something wrong?"

She sighed trying not to let her hurt show. "I thought we were going to drop off the boxes at the food bank."

Niles gasped audibly. "I'd forgotten about that."

When he made no effort to move, she pulled out of his arms and reached for her robe. "Well, I might as well get ready to go. They won't be open much longer. I just thought... earlier you said we could distribute them together." She turned away, hoping he wouldn't see the tears in her eyes.

It was silly to be crying like this; expecting him to help her. She was perfectly capable of doing it alone.

"Daphne?"

She turned when she felt his hands on her shoulders and the touch of his lips on her neck.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered. "I'll get dressed and we can go. There's still plenty of time."

Finally she smiled and kissed him. "Thank you." She took his hand and led him upstairs. Minutes later they were dressed and ready to go.

Niles hurried down the stairs and began gathering the boxes. "Are you ready my love?" He called to her when she appeared on the landing.

"Yes, Sweetheart. I'm sorry I kept you waiting. I just..." She stopped and stared at him in horror before rushing to his side.

"What are you doing?"

A large box in his hands, he looked at her in surprise. "Well, I was just-."

Angrily she grabbed the box from him, startling him even further. "Damn it Niles what in the bloody hell is wrong with you?"

"Daphne-."

"You never listen, do you? Damn it, Niles! How could you?"

Shaken from what she had seen, Daphne forcefully slammed the box onto the floor, rattling its contents. And then to Niles' horror, she sank onto the fainting couch and sobbed into her hands.

"Daphne, what's wrong?"

"Damn you." She cursed under her breath.

At a loss for what to do, he put his hand on her back, but she stood and walked out of the room. In the guest bedroom she glanced at the unmade bed, remembering the passion they had shared beneath the sheets and blankets just hours earlier. And the pain returned in full force, along with a hundred memories.

She sat down on the bed and cried until she was certain that she had no tears left.

And as expected she heard him enter the room.

"Daphne... Please..."

And when she glanced at her wedding ring she cried even harder; only this time out of remorse instead of anger. Still sobbing, she rose from the bed and engulfed him in her arms.

"Oh Niles.."

He held her close, his arms firmly around her trembling body as he stroked her back.

"Daphne, what is it?"

She looked at him through tear-filled eyes. "I'm so sorry for yelling at you. I just... You were lifting that heavy box... and your heart... I thought..."

Finally understanding, he sighed deeply. "I know... I _should_ have known anyway. I'm so sorry, Daphne. I don't know what I was thinking, trying to lift such a heavy box. It's so hard not to be able to do the things I used to do. And I want so much to help you."

At his sad expression, kissed his sweet lips. "And you will. Just give it a little while. But in the meantime..."

He watched in confusion once more as she picked up the phone and began to dial.

"Who are you calling?"

Listening to the ringing on the other end, she smiled and squeezed his hand.

"Hi, it's Daphne. " she said into the phone. "I'm good, but... the reason that I'm calling is because I need a favor. Remember what we were talking about the other day, doing things for others? Well I have a lot of heavy boxes to take to the food bank and I know that neither Niles nor I can get them all into our car, so can you come over and help us? I want to take these to the food bank and Niles... Thank you... I love you too. We'll be waiting."

She hung up the phone smiling at Niles' confused look. Then on impulse, she took his face in her hands and kissed him. "Your brother and father will be right over."  
Niles smiled and kissed her passionately, causing his newly mended heart to beat even faster than before.

"I love you, Daphne. And I'm so sorry for-."

"Hush." She whispered, putting her fingers to his lips to silence him. "It's my fault. I just over reacted when I saw you trying to lift that heavy box. I thought-."

He drew her closer and stroked her hair. "I know..."

"But you're getting stronger every day and soon you'll be doing the things you love to do."

"I love you." He whispered once more.

"And I love-."

Their kisses were interrupted by the ringing doorbell and she reluctantly let go of him to answer it.

"Hey, Daphne!"

Happily she embraced her brother in law and father in law, opening the door wider to allow Frasier and Martin to come inside.

"Hey Niles." Martin said, smiling at his son. "How are you doing?"

Niles grinned at his wife and took her hand. "I'm wonderful, Dad."

"You look good, Niles." Frasier said. "And don't worry. You'll be back at the office in no time."

"Thanks, Frasier." Niles replied with a smile.

"All right. Well, we'd better get started." Frasier said. He picked up a box and headed for the door, followed by Martin and Daphne. And when they reached the lobby, Frasier took out his keys.

"I'll just open the trunk and then we can-."

"Just put them in our car." Daphne said. "You can follow us to the food bank if you'd like. It's not too far."

"Nonsense. You and Niles can ride with Dad and I." Frasier said. "And then we'll take you home."

Daphne smiled and squeezed Frasier's hand. "That sounds wonderful."


	2. Chapter 2

When they arrived at the food bank, Martin and Frasier began unloading the boxes while Daphne went inside to consult with one of the food bank employees.

Niles got out the car and joined his father and brother. "Are you sure you don't want me to help you?"

"Niles... Just... go sit over there." Martin said. "We've got this."

Daphne returned minutes later with two gracious employees who were overwhelmed at the number of boxes that sat in the parking lot. Immediately they began carrying the boxes into the food bank, followed by Daphne, Martin and Frasier.

Alone in the parking lot, Niles sighed as he stared at the building. Never in his life had he felt so useless.

He couldn't work, couldn't even do chores around the house, and even loving his wife at times was difficult. He'd never tell her so, of course, because it would only serve to hurt her. But at times, when they were in the midst of passion, he'd experience a sudden pain in his heart. The doctor told him he might feel some strange sensations for a little while after the surgery and that it was completely normal, but he couldn't help but be afraid.

Now he just felt ashamed that he couldn't love her the way she deserved to be loved. And he was even more ashamed when she'd fallen asleep earlier than expected, thus allowing him to rest.

It just wasn't right. He'd been given a new lease on life and he wanted to live it to the fullest. But how could he when he was so afraid all the time?

He was meticulous about what he ate, and had all but sworn off all hors d'oeuvres at his wine club gatherings, content to eat the meals Daphne so lovingly prepared at home. It was true that she wasn't the best cook in the world, but she had carefully planned out his meals in such a generous gesture, that he couldn't help but love her even more.

Finally they emerged from the food bank and Daphne shook the employees' hands.

"What's this?" She asked glancing at the receipt she'd been handed.

"For your taxes." The man explained. At her blank look he continued. "You can get a pretty good tax deduction because of all those boxes you brought in. I can't tell you how grateful we are, Mrs. Crane. We've never had quite a load come in like that."

Daphne glanced at the receipt and then handed it back to the man. "Well thank you but I didn't do this for a tax return. I did it for my husband. Please... Give this receipt to someone who can really use it."

"Well thank you ma'am. I appreciate your generosity." the man replied, smiling at her.

When she turned to Niles and smiled he felt tears spring to his eyes. How could he possibly go without loving her the way she needed him to?

He had to be strong, but how could he when he was so afraid of hurting her? Of hurting himself? They had a lot to talk about, and he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to approach the subject.

The ride home was unnerving and he found himself wishing that Frasier would drive faster, thus getting them home quickly. But instead the car moved at a leisurely pace while he made small talk; none of which Niles was even listening to. But a few nods and words of agreement did nicely.

When they finally arrived at the Montana, Frasier and Martin accepted yet another hug from Daphne and began to say their goodbyes.

"Thank you, Frasier... so much for doing this." Daphne said.

Frasier smiled and took her hand. "It was my pleasure, Daphne. And I'm so proud of you. This was... a wonderful gesture."

Niles slipped his hand into Daphne's and squeezed, kissing her cheek. "It certainly was, my love."

"Well... We'd best get back home so that Dad doesn't miss Antiques Roadshow. You know how important that is!" Frasier said with a roll of his eyes.

"Hey, I resent that!" Martin retorted. "I'll have you know that tonight's episode is new, so shut your yap!"

"And on that note, I think we'll be leaving." Frasier said, giving Niles and Daphne one last hug.


	3. Chapter 3

Alone at last, Daphne and Niles walked into their apartment and closed the door. Daphne sighed and looked around the living room, smiling when Niles came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"What's wrong?"

"It looks so empty in here now."

"Back to normal."

"Yes, but..."

"But what?"

"It was fun... sorting all of those things for the food bank. I really enjoyed helping people."

"Then you should keep doing it."

"Really?"

He smiled and kissed her hand. "Yes. You're so giving and caring and I couldn't get over the way the faces of the food bank employees lit up when they saw what you had done."

"Thank you, Niles. I couldn't have done this without you. But... I'd rather thank you in my own special way, so why don't we go back into the bedroom and get started?"

She smiled mischievously and took his hand, but he remained where he was.

"No."

Abruptly she let go of his hand and stared at him in disbelief.

"What?"

"I don't want to go back in there."

Hurt, she moved away from him. "What are you saying?"

"I... I can't. Daphne!"

"I... I don't understand."

"I don't either, Daphne. I-I mean, I've tried... I just..."

She stared at him, swallowing hard. "A-are you saying that you don't want to be with me?"

When he said nothing, tears filled her eyes and began to run down her cheeks. "I know I haven't been the same as... before but it was only because... Never mind. You want to be alone, I can tell, so I'll just go upstairs."

"Daphne-."

He watched helplessly as she raced up the stairs, and disappeared from view, wishing like hell he knew what to say to her. He'd been so sure of himself before; so confident that he could be what he once was, but now he knew that was impossible-and he may never be the same again.

Finally, he climbed the stairs, slower than normal, pausing when he reached the doorway. When he peered into the master bedroom he could see her, sitting on the edge of the bed sobbing.

And his mended heart began to break into pieces.

Damn...

For instead of approaching the subject directly the way he'd always advised his patients to do, he'd hurt the woman he loved most of all; and in the most insincere way possible. She must absolutely hate him.

As quietly as possible, he walked into the room, pained when she didn't even look up. He knelt beside her and began wiping the tears from her cheeks. And then he took her hands, and kissed them.

"I'm so sorry, my angel... I didn't mean it. I do want you... so badly... I've never wanted anyone else..."

She looked up at him with tear filled eyes and sighed deeply. "I'm sorry I can't give you what you want... but I'm afraid..."

The relief he felt was immeasurable and he squeezed her hands tighter. "Daphne I'm afraid too; afraid of hurting you... of hurting myself. I just... I was ashamed to say anything. We've been so careful and I just don't want to risk..."

Daphne kissed him deeply and stroked his cheek. "I know, sweetheart. I know... But before... when you moved away from me last night... I thought..."

He sighed and drew her close to him, afraid to let her go. "No, my angel... I love you... so much and you make me happier than I ever dreamed so don't ever think..."

She stopped him with kisses that took his breath away.

"I'm tired of using the guest room." He said in between kisses.

"Niles... what are you saying?"

"I'm saying... that I want things to be the way they were... and we should be where we belong... in our bedroom...

"I think you're right, Niles. But I have to disagree with you about one thing..."

"What's that?"

"I don't want things to be the way they were. I want them to be even more wonderful. "And they will be..." She paused for effect, kissing him deeply. "Starting tonight."

Wordlessly she led him up the stairs, where they both knew that it would be an experience that neither one of them would soon forget.  
**  
THE END**


End file.
